Marilyn Ann Leonhart
January 31, 2025 – 10:30am cst
Marilyn was born and raised in Maywood, IL, graduating from Proviso Township (East) HS in 1950. At Illinois Wesleyan University, Marilyn earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1954, specializing in printmaking. A highlight for her was spending a semester abroad in Fontainebleau, France, traveling there and back by ocean liner! She was a lifelong member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority.
Following college, Marilyn worked at the State St. Marshall Field’s store in Chicago as a display designer. She was also personal assistant to Homer G. Sharp, President of Marshall Field’s design division. One of her fondest memories was being able to help decorate the famous Field’s Christmas tree in the Walnut Room.
It was while working in Chicago that she met her future husband, Glenn Leonhart. Marilyn was a June bride in 1956, marrying Glenn at Maywood’s First Congregational Church. They raised their four daughters in Oak Park, IL, while living in their treasured Tallmadge & Watson designed historic home on Fair Oaks Ave. Marilyn and Glenn were both very actively involved members of Grace Episcopal Church in Oak Park.
While being a full-time mother, and with all that entails, Marilyn continued her pursuit of printmaking and drawing, showing and selling her pieces at local art shows. She also worked as a window display designer at the Oak Park Marshall Field’s store before going to graduate school at the School of The Art Institute of Chicago, where she completed her Masters of Art Therapy degree. During her internship time, she worked with children who were Cystic Fibrosis patients at the Univ. of Chicago Hospitals.
Marilyn and Glenn enjoyed retirement in Columbus, IN, which they chose specifically because of its outstanding architecture and rich arts culture. They were active members of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church while living there. They moved to the Seattle area for their final years in order to be closer to two of their daughters.
Marilyn was preceded in death by her parents Eleanor & Frank, her sister Dorothy, and her brother Donald (lost at sea in WWII).
Her husband, Glenn, passed in 2022.
She is survived by her daughters Anne Grigg(John), Sarah Foley(John), Alice Bartholomew(Brian), and Martha Berg(Eric),11 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren.
In Lieu of flowers the family asks that donations in memory of Marilyn Leonhart be sent to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Columbus, IN.
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